


with you, once upon a dream

by SunSparrow



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Dreamsharing, Fluff, High School, Idiots in Love, M/M, Magical Realism, True Love, boy in skirt, square: soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27751927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunSparrow/pseuds/SunSparrow
Summary: Tender fingers brush against Mark's cheek, their touch as gentle as dawn's pink-orange glow spilling over the horizon.Mark opens his eyes to see a smiling boy leaning over him."Kirei,"says the boy, so familiar and fond."Hi," says Mark, chest filled with warm sunlight.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 17
Kudos: 177
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates, THE COLLECTION





	with you, once upon a dream

Tender fingers brush against Mark's cheek, their touch as gentle as dawn's pink-orange glow spilling over the horizon.

Mark opens his eyes to see a smiling boy leaning over him.

 _"Kirei,"_ says the boy, so familiar and fond.

"Hi," says Mark, chest filled with warm sunlight.

Still feeling warm, Mark wakes up slowly with a smile on his face. He glances at his phone; there are only a couple of minutes left before his alarm rings, so he decides to seize the day.

Rolling out of bed and landing on the carpet with a small _"oof,"_ Mark does some push-ups, rug tickling his face. He's like a fully-charged battery. It's so cool how often that happens nowadays, now that his soulmate dream connection has fully developed. 

He flexes a little in front of the mirror before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower and brush.

The dreams are the best part of Mark's daily—nightly?—routine. He can hardly believe he can spend so much time with his soulmate before even meeting him. Others aren't so lucky, due to time zone shenanigans, not being alive at the same time, work schedules, stuff like that. Some people stay asleep for most of the day, hoping for a chance to glimpse their soulmate.

Mark gets where they're coming from, but his parents say it's important to live in the moment and stay productive rather than struggle through life tangled up in dreams. He's not allowed to try and date his soulmate until college, especially since his soulmate is probably living in another country.

On the walk to school, Mark sees the orange-yellow sunrise and wishes his soulmate were here to see it, too. He snaps a photo of the grapefruit-colored sky with his phone and saves it to a new folder, titled "Soulmate."

Mark hurries on, bowing in greeting to his neighbor walking the dog. After a moment's thought, he takes a photo of the chubby corgi, too.

It's frustrating, but he can never remember his soulmate's face or name after waking up. His parents say it's normal for most people, and that's okay. Mark remembers so many other things from their dreams together, he's sure he would be able to recognize his soulmate immediately. He wonders if his soulmate is better at remembering.

Once, Mark dreamed they were in a bedroom, plastered all over with colorful posters of anime and J-rock stars like Miyavi. So Mark has a list on his desk of the anime series he remembers on the walls, crossing them off as he finishes each one.

Sometimes Mark finds himself nodding off to the recap episodes, waking up beside his soulmate with the anime still playing in the background. Then Mark shares his favorite parts, and his soulmate shares his, and they lie down so close that their shoulders and hips touch. When that happens, Mark feels very, very warm.

Those are some of the best dreams. 

Once, there's a guitar.

Of course, his soulmate asks him to play. So Mark ends up serenading his soulmate with the songs he likes best.

When Mark wakes up, his fingers are still tracing the bedsheet wrinkles like guitar strings, playing an old, familiar song.

The song his dad played for his mom when they first met and fell in love—awake and finally made whole.

* * *

"Mark Lee, thank you for finally joining us. You're..." The teacher makes an obnoxious show of checking the watch on his wrist. "Fifteen minutes late."

"Sorry, it won't happen again," Mark says, bowing deeply. He rushes as quickly and quietly as possible to his seat in the back of the classroom next to Lucas, who fist-bumps him in greeting.

Mark pouts a little as he pulls out his notebook, tempted to blame his soulmate. He had fallen prey to one of the more tempting dreams, where his soulmate was gently stroking his hair and calling him pretty.

Mark feels his lower abdomen clench a little with the memory, and he squirms in his seat before reluctantly pushing the feeling away. Mark had been so comfortable, lying on a pile of plush toys and licking an ice cream cone while his soulmate doted on him.

Anyway, Mark had hit the snooze button too many times.

"Excuse me," someone says from the doorway. "I'm new."

Mark looks up and abruptly scoots back in his chair like a magnet meeting its opposite pole, the metal legs screeching against the tile. Several students turn around to give him odd looks, but quickly turn back around because being awkward is Mark's M.O.

This does nothing to change the fact that the new student is _terrifying;_ seeing him sends something strange swooping high and low between Mark's chest and stomach, and now the other boy is staring him down like he's personally kicked his pet puppy and is now out for _John Wick_ -style revenge.

Mark gulps, and the other student's eyes follow the movement of his Adam's apple. His gaze narrows, making it all the more piercing.

Mark might actually die today.

The teacher frowns, glancing down at his attendance roster. "We're not expecting anyone new. Ah, I think Class B downstairs is what you're looking for. Yuta Nakamoto?"

"Yes, sir," Yuta says politely, turning to the older man and bowing.

The teacher nods. "Mark Lee. Please help this student find Class B." He raises his eyebrows at Mark and then turns back to the board, writing out the lesson plan for the day. "Hurry back."

Stomach flipping over, Mark leaves his things in his chair, hurrying over to the door.

"Yo, I'm Mark Lee," Mark greets once the classroom door is shut behind him. He smiles awkwardly at Yuta, who's still staring at him. "The stairs are this way—oh! I can show you a shortcut, actually. There's this side hall that cuts through..."

Mark fills the silence with light chatter about the school's weird layout, Yuta responding in Korean that is, frankly, more fluent than Mark's. 

"Yeah, my dad moved here for work and took me with him. But I've been studying for years." Yuta smiles brightly and—Mark wants to see him smile again.

So he shows Yuta the grapefruit sunrise and the cute corgi photos. Mark could swear that Yuta's eyes actually sparkle as he coos over the corgi.

Too soon, they reach Yuta's destination. Hiding his moue of disappointment, Mark glances through the window, instantly recognizing a couple of his friends in there. "Oh! You're classmates with Taeyong-hyung and Johnny-hyung. They're really friendly if you want to get to know cool people right away."

 _"Arigat— Ah_ , thank you, Mark," Yuta says, catching himself and switching back to Korean.

Mark feels his breath catch and he says, "Oh! Man, I was going to say. My soulmate's from Japan, too." Mark doesn't really like to talk about soulmate stuff with most people, but the fact that Yuta has something in common with his soulmate is exciting.

"Really?" Yuta says with a surprised look.

Yuta's cute, Mark realizes with shock, so much so that his brain-to-mouth filter disappears. "Oh wow! You're cute, hyung."

Yuta smiles, making the same silly face so Mark laughs.

"I'll see you around, Mark Lee." Yuta winks before he enters the classroom.

Mark waves. He already really likes Yuta.

He'll definitely tell his soulmate about Yuta.

Mark wakes in a state of bewilderment, disoriented. He swears he'd _just_ closed his eyes, but his wake-up alarm's blaring in his ear.

Mark switches off the phone alarm, confused. Maybe his soulmate didn't sleep that night? Mark feels a little dazed as muscle memory guides him through his usual morning routine.

There's a deep furrow in his brow as he makes the trek to school, weighed down with the guitar he's holding for music lessons.

Suddenly Mark collides into a hard body, papers flying everywhere. "Oh gosh," Mark says, immediately dropping into a crouch to help pick up everything, "Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going."

Mirthful laughter reaches his ears as someone responds, "I should have put my things away, it's not your fault."

Mark looks up, already smiling because Yuta's laugh is so contagious. "Morning, Yuta-hyung. Guess you've found out first-hand I'm actually a walking disaster."

"A cute one, though," Yuta smirks.

Mark blushes. "Dude, come on." He hands back Yuta's papers.

"Hey, what's that?" Yuta says, pointedly looking at the instrument case.

"Guitar." Mark gives it a nudge with his knee.

"You play?" Yuta asks like he's not terribly interested, but Mark can tell he is.

"Yeah, piano too," Mark puffs his chest, making Yuta laugh. "But I prefer the guitar because it's more mobile. Imagine if I carried around a piano!" Mark giggles at the mental imagery.

Yuta giggles too. It's adorable. "I'm actually looking for an instructor. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for teachers. Not too expensive though. No job yet." Yuta shrugs.

Mark chews his bottom lip, thinking. "I don't know any local ones, but I could teach you after class! For free. My parents won't mind if I have a friend over."

Yuta smiles brilliantly, then, and Mark gets the feeling he said the right thing.

* * *

Mark sits down on the bleachers and watches Yuta at soccer practice like he promised. He knows Yuta was snatched up by the team almost immediately after his arrival, and it's been a few weeks now, but Mark's never actually seen him play.

Yuta's utterly focused on the scrimmage, weaving between defenders with deft ease, gliding across the field like a fierce bird of prey.

Air catches in Mark's chest as Yuta ties up his hair, showing off the nape of his neck. Then he kicks the ball straight into the goal like it was made for his foot alone.

It hits Mark then. Yuta is _pretty._

As if sensing the direction of Mark's thoughts, Yuta suddenly turns in his direction and waves with a bright smile. Mark stares and almost forgets to wave back. He does, though, movement stilted and awkward.

Yuta laughs at something Jaehyun says, and Mark can almost hear him from this far away, the color of his joy bright and yellow like a daffodil.

 _Kirei_ echoes in his head then, unbidden.

Mark frowns. Tests out the word on his tongue.

_"Kirei."_

* * *

Mark hits the button again, his sigh drowned out by the roar of hot air from the hand dryer. Lunchtime had been a series of unfortunate events, ending with a crotch full of ice water. Donghyuck had apologized but Mark's still feeling a bit sore about it, mostly because his pants and boxers are still soaked. He flips over his boxers so that the damp patch is beneath the blower.

Mark's lucky the boys' locker room is empty. He isn't too keen on being spotted, because, well, he didn't have a towel and his friend Lucas had offered him a spare uniform skirt in the meantime.

From his backpack.

When Mark asked where he got it, he didn't miss Lucas' focus cutting over to Hendery for half a second.

Anyway, Mark hadn't been ready for _that_ conversation because he needed to change before his balls shrunk and disappeared into his body. He grabbed the skirt and peaced out.

The pleated skirt isn't much good when it comes to the drafts that pass through the locker room, but it comes down nearly to his knees and Mark is thankful for that.

He's actually never worn a skirt before now—except for once. Sort of.

Mark can't stop his mind from careening into the memory vault of his dreams. He had been at school with his soulmate, in full uniform. Except—

Mark hadn't been wearing the boy's uniform.

His soulmate hadn't said anything, or _done_ anything about it—but it had really, really looked like he wanted to. Mark had felt the burn of his soulmate's stare on his body, the skin of his bare legs beneath the skirt. Mark almost woke up late that day, fidgeting and warm for reasons he didn't fully understand.

If his soulmate were to see him now... Mark wrinkles his nose. He probably doesn't look appealing at all in the skirt, with his long, gangly legs and zero curves to speak of. His leg hair is sparse, almost non-existent, but that's really the only thing he has going for him.

Then, Yuta walks into the locker room.

Mark immediately blushes fire-truck red. 

"Um," Yuta says, eyes wide.

"Hi, Yuta-hyung?" Mark tries to come off as casual, but his voice cracks. He pulls down at the hem of his skirt, pretending it didn't happen.

Yuta... doesn't say anything.

Okay, casual didn't work. Mark can try humor!

"I guess I should be calling you Yuta-oppa instead?" Mark laughs, slanting a little bit towards manic. He bites his bottom lip _hard_ to shut himself up. What is he even _doing?_

Yuta's focus shifts between Mark's skirt, his reddened face, and the pants he's angling under the inert hand dryer.

Then Yuta guesses, very calmly, "Your pants got wet?"

Mark nods, looking down. He is officially embarrassed in front of his favorite non-soulmate.

He should just go home now.

But Yuta says, "Don't worry, your oppa is here."

When Mark looks up, Yuta has a teasing smile, though hardly at Mark's expense because suddenly Yuta is taking off _his_ pants.

"Hyung! What are you _doing?"_ Mark chokes out with a startled laugh, turning squeaky as he _notices_ the athletic lines of Yuta's legs, muscles visible even beneath the boxer-briefs that cut off halfway down his thighs.

Soccer, huh.

"Wear mine, you've got class soon, right?"

Ripping his eyes away from Yuta's legs, Mark looks at the clock on the wall and winces. He's got mathematics in two minutes, but his pants are nowhere near dry, especially in the crotch area. "What about your class?"

"Don't worry about it. Use mine while I dry yours." Yuta takes the clothing bundle before Mark can argue and gives him his pants to change into instead.

Mark does have enough sense to grab the boxers off the top of the pile and hold it behind his back, even though Yuta's surely noticed.

But Yuta doesn't say anything, so maybe he doesn't know that there's nothing under the skirt.

After Mark disappears behind the lockers to change, he hears Yuta call out, "By the way, you look pretty, Mark."

"Thanks, man," Mark laughs, blushing again.

When Mark gets to class, he can't help but rub the borrowed fabric between his thumb and forefinger for the rest of the day, thinking about Yuta.

* * *

Mark is worried.

It started out as a faint thread of unease, blue-grey and sad, lingering in his thoughts. It's since thickened into heavy, constricting rope.

Because Mark hasn't been able to dream of his soulmate at all.

At first he thought he was just retaining fewer memories from the connection, but then Mark started dreaming again, of things that didn't make sense, or never happened.

Mark also feels guilty because he hasn't been trying to _fix_ it.

Instead, he's been spending time with Yuta, teaching him guitar after school. Cheering him on at soccer games. Studying together even if they have different subjects. His parents really like Yuta; he's been over for dinner so often.

Mark trusts Yuta. Even with the soulmate stuff he never tells anyone else.

So during Yuta's guitar lesson, Mark ends up blurting out, "I don't know what happened to my soulmate."

Yuta immediately scoots over and hugs him.

Mark buries his face in Yuta's shoulder, trying to muffle the words from his own mouth. "Maybe he moved to a different country and didn't want to tell me." It feels like it could be true.

"Maybe your soulmate told you, but you forgot when you woke up?" Yuta asks, stroking Mark's hair.

Mark shakes his head, burying himself deeper in his mourning. He couldn't even say good-bye.

"He didn't want to be with me after all," Mark says in a small voice.

Yuta hugs him harder. "Mark, _no._ Your soulmate would _never_ abandon you."

Then Yuta cups Mark's face with gentle hands, staring intensely into his eyes. Mark feels like he has to hold his breath.

"Even if he had to move, you're still young. You can meet up later. It takes money and resources to fly, and maybe he's not independent enough yet." 

Yuta smiles so kindly at Mark that he feels even more like crying. Yuta is so nice, and always knows just what to say. Knows what Mark needs to hear most.

Yuta lets go to bring over a box of tissues from Mark's desk. He pauses momentarily. "Nice anime list. You have taste."

"Th-thanks." Mark feels the wound in his heart rip open a little more.

Yuta comes back with the tissues, then takes Mark's guitar and adjusts it in his lap, fidgeting almost nervously with the positioning. "Mark, can I try something?"

Mark says, "Sure," with a residual sniffle.

He watches as Yuta fingers the frets, takes the pick, and begins to play a halting series of chords.

Then, Yuta sings. The sound is rounded at the edges, soothing, and so clear it reverberates through Mark's chest, quickening the pulse of his heart.

Yuta's voice is beautiful, and familiar.

_"But now I realize I was yours all this time.  
_ _To you who came back, I will give my everything._

 _We will stay together forever as we are,  
_ _Because I love you and you only."_

Mark knows this song.

It's _the_ song.

The one Mark's dad sang to his mom.

The one Mark played in his dream.

"Yuta?" Mark says, eyes wide with hot, unshed tears. Hope batters the insides of his ribs with fluttering birds' wings.

He had forgotten, or maybe he couldn't even dare to hope that it was true:

Shared dreams stop when soulmates meet.

"Mark. I thought it was you." Yuta leans in and kisses his cheek, gentle and warm.

Like sunlight.

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics cobbled together from various translations of "Because I Love You," originally sung by Yoo Jae Ha, and covered by Mark Lee :)
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/TheSunSparrow)


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